Microteaching: effective knowledge tansfer for sustainable technological innovation

Abstract

Technology and innovation play important roles in the approaches to sustainability related problems. An increasing number of companies find Sustainable Development (SD) important; this is mainly due to the growing attention from politics and society. Exchanging of new knowledge and insight is therefore important. Daily practice proves that it is difficult for (small and medium sized) companies to regularly make time to transfer knowledge internally. Therefore it is necessary for companies to have a practical approach on improving the level of knowledge of Sustainable Technological Innovation (STI) within the organisation. Microteaching STI offers a flexible and activating approach focussed on stimulating feedback, coupled on various learning styles and participants. In series of meetings of 15 to 30 minutes, related topics will be taught. The choice of topics covered will be determined by the knowledge requirements of both the employees and the company. The approach is developed and tested in collaboration with six companies in the Netherlands, Delft University of Technology and partners involved in training and Sustainable Development: Innovaders Amsterdam, in corporation with Beco Rotterdam. Learning goals of both participants and company are discussed. Mind maps have been used to indicate the attitude of the companies towards Sustainable Development. Brainstorm meetings with all partners and ‘learning by doing’ have resulted in a format to support an active learning approach. Other focus points are: Training of the (internal) trainer, choosing the correct active work form, using clear examples, paying attention to feedback, facilitating internal discussion and deepening of knowledge after the teaching. Microteaching STI in the Netherlands is a Leonardo da Vinci EU sub-project, which started in October 2004 and will be finished in February 2007. Two sub-projects in Germany and a project in Slovakia deal with the employees’ training in their respective fields, on an operational level. RWTH Aachen, Center for Learning and Knowledge Management and Department of Computer Sciences in Mechanical Engineering, is coordinator of the project. Knowledge of the approach will be transferred to Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) Barcelona Spain and also to partners in Finland and Hungarian. This paper describes experiences with the Microteaching STI approach in the Netherlands. Theory on active learning is combined with practical examples from Microteaching trainings offered.